Wednesday, August 21, 2013

DID TED CRUZ NEED A WHITE HOUSE ESCORT WHEN HE WORKED IN THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION?

I'm sure you've been reading about the citizenship saga of Ted Cruz -- he was born in Canada to a Cuban emigre father and an American mother; his mother's citizenship makes him a U.S. citizen, but his Canadian birth means he's also a Canadian citizen. He's agreed to renounce his Canadian citizenship, though, as it turns out, that won't be a quick process, according to Reuters:

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, who says he recently discovered he is likely a Canadian, must win security clearance from Canada's spy agency, fill out a four-page form and then wait up to eight months to sever his ties to America's northern neighbor....

People giving up Canadian citizenship must prove they are or will become a citizen of another country, do not live in Canada and are not a security threat. They must also explain in writing why they do not want to be a Canadian anymore.

A nonrefundable C$100 ($96) fee is payable in advance....

Cruz insists he's a red-blooded American. But I wonder if the U.S. government has always agreed.

You see, during the George W. Bush administration, Cruz was at various times an associate deputy attorney general and the director of policy planning at the Federal Trade Commission. What I'm wondering is this: when he had to be at the White House, did he, as a Canadian citizen, require an escort at all times?

David Frum is Canadian, and he was a presidential speechwriter in the early days of the George W. Bush administration. Until he got a waiver of the rules, he had to have an escort literally everywhere he went in the White House. He was even detained once for a violation of this protocol, as he explained in his book The Right Man:

Did Ted Cruz have to do this? Did the Bush administration regard him as an American or a Canadian?

If the man wants to be president, I think we have a right to know. Don't you?